Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Memorial Day Weekend '13


We just had a very relaxing, fun, long weekend. It is always easy to forget the reason why you are able to enjoy a day off, but that's something you cannot overlook. I am so thankful for the ones who have fought & sacrificed so that we can enjoy our freedoms.

We were very blessed to have absolutely beautiful weather the entire weekend!! I did get a lot of work done inside the house, but I mainly left that for when it was dark outside. I got a nice little sun tan burn, laying out on our deck two of the afternoons.

My sweetie & I went to church on Sunday morning, then he went to play golf. He was sweet enough to invite me to go ride around in the cart with him. :)


On one of the afternoons, I went out to the back deck to clean our patio furniture. I usually just use the water hose & a Magic Eraser to do this, and it works like a charm. The only problem is that when I start to unravel the water hose, two little babies come running toward me, wanting to play. :)

I am more than happy to oblige. After a few minutes of playing, with just a few intervals of cleaning mixed in, they were both soaked & loving it.




I have been taking advantage of the gorgeous weather lately, not just over the long weekend, but on afternoons when I get home from work too. Daisy girl & I have been jogging around our neighborhood. I am loving it, because we both get exercise, and we have great company while doing it.


(I am resolved to the fact that she will not look at the camera.)


She LOVES rolling in the grass. Zach's favorite is when she picks a high spot in our backyard & rolls all the way down the hill.
Silly girl.


She was also my little buddy while I was laying out on our deck. She loves sunbathing as much as her momma, unfortunately.


On a more serious note, just wanted to write a little update on real life, mainly for my own benefit. I don't like to post on really personal things on the blog, because I want it to be a "happy" place for me. But, life isn't all about happiness, so I have to include a little shot of reality when necessary.

My grandfather just recently found out that he has a small cancerous area on his bladder. We praise the Lord that it was caught very early. Treatment options have been discussed, and they will proceed with those in a few weeks. I ask for your prayers for him as he deals with this, and for my grandmother & mom, along with our whole family, as we support him through this. He is one of the few men left in my life, and I love that man dearly.

Speaking of the wonderful men in my life, please also pray for my father-in-law. He is now scheduled to have a kidney transplant in a few weeks. His sister, our Aunt Gail, has selflessly agreed to donate a kidney- she was a perfect match- and we will be forever grateful to her for that. Please pray for both of them as they endure these surgeries, and the following weeks as they adjust to life after.

We are so thankful that things have fallen into place the way they have! There will always be negative things coming your way, but you can almost always still see the light at the end of the tunnel. We know that God is good, and He knows best. 

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Three Ottomans on the Cheap!


I am ready for a break from reality (which means I am so pumped for this long weekend coming up), so I thought I would post on this project that has long been in the works. Truth be told, it has actually been completed for months now- I am just now getting around to posting on it.

Life has just gotten in the way since then. :)

So, I have not-so-recently repurposed three little ottomans that I am so excited to share with you! The only money I have in these are the small amount that I paid for the fabrics & paint for the legs. The most expensive fabric was on this first one...


....and it was only about $20 for a few yards, so I still have extra to use on something else. The ottomans in their "Before" conditions were from my grandmother's house. She actually had three of these things, but I unfortunately don't even have much room for one right now...but I still squeezed it into the house though, rest assured. :)

So, the three ottomans were FREE to me!

This shows two of them in their sad little "Before" state...


I started with an orange ottoman, just like the one pictured above. I knew I did not want the orange in our house (wow), and it was in poor condition anyway, so it had to be transformed.

I headed to Wal-Mart (this was the same trip where I got the leopard fabric for my 30-Minute Vanity Seat Revamp... a LONG time ago). I am in love with this fabric!!

I borrowed my granddad's staple gun, and went to work.

This is yet again another project that I've had ready to go for a while, but waited so long to start on it. And again, I wondered why I waited so long, because it was an easy, quick project. I then waited even longer to post on it, mainly because one of them was a Christmas gift.

I surprised myself because I actually took a lot of step-by-step photos of the process.

Here they are:

I laid the fabric out on the floor so I could work with it better...


I had an adorable little helper while I was in the floor too :) ...


I just cut the fabric to size & lapped it over, securing it with a staple gun at far intervals...


The edges were the only tricky part. I just patiently (ha, yeah right) folded them neatly & tucked, also securing it with a hefty staple from the staple gun.


This shows the two sides stapled...


Now, the ottoman was recovered, but I wasn't done yet. I wanted to really secure the fabric, so I lined each fabric end with hot glue to fully attach it to the underside of the ottoman...


I was proud of the lines I cut in the fabric. Not too bad for the little experience that I have with this...


(I'm telling you, I took a lot of pics of this project...sorry- if you're getting bored, scroll to the bottom for the Before & After) :) ...

I wanted to show one of the legs, so you could see how dingy the brass was...


I lathered each one up with some Brass-o (great stuff!), and now look...


I thought they needed a little something more. So, I decided to paint a few coats of metallic gold...


That helped to shine them up alot. I must have stopped taking pictures by then, because I didn't have any showing that.

Now, to the Before & After of the first ottoman...

BEFORE

AFTER

Also, here's a peek at the other two I finished. The black & white zebra print went to my mom as one of her Christmas gifts (as I mentioned earlier), and the brown zebra is MINE. :)



It is amazing how just a quick clean-up & a simple fabric change can really transform a piece.

I am toying with the idea of adding nailhead trim to mine, but I haven't made myself try it yet. I have already purchased the nailheads, so we'll see. :)

Friday, May 10, 2013

Crimson Caravan- 5/9/2013


Zach & I were blessed to have the chance to go to the Crimson Caravan that was (surprisingly) held in our hometown last night. Wow! We had a great time! We really enjoyed listening to Coach Saban speak, and getting to spend time with Zach's dad. Listening to him speak in person, and watching clips of his locker room speeches, along with game highlights, makes me so ready for football season!! 

The only thing that would have made the night better was if my Dad was here to attend it with us!

Roll Tide, Dad!!









I hope you all have a great Mother's Day weekend! I know we are ready to celebrate our wonderful moms!!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Buckhead Mini Getaway- St. Regis


My sweetie & I just had a mini vacay in Buckhead, GA (ATL area). We absolutely LOVED it!! It was just a quick trip, mostly for relaxation, and some time away from home. With Zach working from home in his office, he never really gets much of an escape. We both really enjoyed our time away- him maybe a little more than me. 

We went all out & stayed at the St. Regis Atlanta. It was absolutely beautiful, and we felt pampered the entire time. Zach enjoyed a massage at the spa (which is not my thing), but we shopped on Sunday (which is definitely my thing)! We had some great meals... pics of food below (yes, I was a nerd & took photos of our fancy food while there).

I took a lot more photos than I first thought, once we got home and started looking through them. 
Here are a few I narrowed down...

-Pics of Us-

Me & my sweetie about to go out to eat...

Again, about to go eat :) ...

At Chops, after dinner... yum! (Just realized all pics of us revolve around eating.)

- The Decor-

Our hotel...

This is the chandelier at the entrance that I wanted to pack in my suitcase and take home with me...

The decor of the entire hotel- my favorite area being the front lobby shown here- was simple, but elegant...and bonus, there was mercury glass everywhere! Ahh...

Upstairs was the hotel restaurant where we had our breakfast...


I was in love with the mirrored doors of the elevator!

The pool area...

The terrace, perfect for a wedding...

The gorgeous poolside fountain...

Again, showing the decor was simple, but beautiful...



-The Room-

Our bathroom...

...and the TV in our bathroom mirror... wow...





Our phone/control system in our room, complete with Zach's name... fancy schmancy :)

Chops, our restaurant...

-The Food-

My breakfast- smoked salmon & cream cheese bagel. I could start every morning out like this!

Zach's dinner, filet & lobster tail & lobster mashed potatoes...

My dinner, filet & creamed spinach...

We laughed at Zach's fancy drawn butter... you know, just like I serve it at home :)

Tahitian vanilla creme brûlée- it wasn't yummy at all... ha! 

Ahi tuna sandwich with homemade potato chips...

My view for most of the day on Saturday. I gave myself a mani & pedi, then sat back in the chaise lounge & relaxed. No cleaning, cooking, or laundry to do, and no little doggies nipping at my heels. :)

We both felt relaxed after we got home. We have both been busy with many things lately- Zach, especially with work, since he hasn't had two consecutive days off since the first of the year! It was nice just to escape for a little while. 

Now, if we can just have this trip tide us over until our "Annual Anniversary trip" to Disney!! We'll see how that goes... 
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